Money and the contract
Crew gratuity: how much, when and how
How much should I tip the crew on a yacht charter?
The short answer
How much should I tip the crew on a yacht charter?
The convention on a crewed charter in this region is 10 to 20 percent of the base charter rate, given to the captain at the end of the charter and divided among the whole crew. On a fifty thousand dollar week that is five to ten thousand dollars. It is not in the contract and it is genuinely at your discretion, but crew wages in the charter market are set on the assumption that it is paid, so treating it as optional in practice means paying people less than they were budgeted to earn. On a Thai day charter the scale is completely different, with a thousand baht being a normal figure.
The number
Ten to twenty percent of the base rate, not of the total including APA. Fifteen percent is a common landing point for good service. Below ten percent reads as a comment, and it will be understood as one.
How it is given
In one sum to the captain, on the last evening or the final morning, and the captain divides it. Do not tip individual crew separately unless something exceptional happened, because it cuts across a distribution the captain has to keep fair across the season.
Cash is traditional. Many operators now accept the gratuity through the office by transfer or card, which is easier and worth arranging in advance rather than on the day.
Why it is not optional in the way it sounds
Charter crew are paid a base wage plus expected gratuity, in a market where the season is five months long. The captain, the chef, the stewardess and the deckhand have all built their year on the assumption. That is a criticism of the wage structure rather than of you, but it is the structure you are booking into.
The day charter is a different world
On a Thai-flagged day boat out of Chalong, the crew gratuity convention is around a thousand baht for the boat, not a percentage of the charter. Applying a fifteen percent superyacht convention to a 45,000 baht day charter would be generous to the point of confusing.
Budget the gratuity when you budget the charter, not at the end of it. It is the single largest line most first-time charterers do not see coming.
Last checked 6 September 2026. Rates, fees and regulations in this market change every season, so figures on this page are correct as at that date and not afterwards. How the figures are gathered.